Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto: محمد ظاهرشاه, Persian: محمد ظاهر شاه; October 16, 1914 – July 23, 2007) was the last King of Afghanistan, from the Musahiban bloodline, who reigned for four decades, from 1933 until he was ousted by a coup in 1973. Following his return from exile, he was given the title 'Father of the Nation' in 2002, which he held until his death.[2]

Zahir Shah was educated in a special class for princes at Habibia High School in Kabul.[4] He continued his education in France where his father had been sent as a diplomatic envoy, studying at the Pasteur Institute and the University of Montpellier.[5] When he returned to Afghanistan he helped his father and uncles restore order and reassert government control during a period of lawlessness in the country.[6] He was later enrolled at an Infantry School and appointed a privy counsellor. Zahir Shah served in the government positions of deputy war minister and minister of education.[4] Zahir Shah was fluent in Pashto, Persian, and French.[7]

Studio photograph of Zahir Shah in military uniform, seated in a heavy, carved armchair. (1930s)

Zahir Khan was proclaimed King (Shah) on 8 November 1933 at the age of 19, after the assassination of his father Mohammed Nadir Shah. Following his ascension to the throne he was given the regnal title "He who puts his trust in God, follower of the firm religion of Islam".[4] For the first thirty years he did not effectively rule, ceding power to his paternal uncles, Mohammad Hashim Khan and Shah Mahmud Khan.[8] This period fostered a growth in Afghanistan's relations with the international community as in 1934, Afghanistan joined the League of Nations while also receiving formal recognition from the United States.[9] By the end of the 1930s, agreements on foreign assistance and trade had been reached with many countries, most notably Germany, Italy, and Japan.[10]

Following the end of the Second World War, Zahir Shah recognised the need for the modernisation of Afghanistan and recruited a number of foreign advisers to assist with the process.[12] During this period Afghanistan's first modern university was founded.[12] During his reign a number of potential advances and reforms were derailed as a result of factionalism and political infighting.[13]

In 1973, while Zahir Shah was in Italy, undergoing eye surgery as well as therapy for lumbago, his cousin and former Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan staged a coup d'état and established a republican government. As a former prime minister, Daoud Khan had been forced to resign by Zahir Shah a decade earlier.[15] In August 1974, Zahir Shah abdicated rather than risk an all-out civil war.[15]

Zahir Shah lived in exile in Italy for twenty-nine years in a villa in the affluent community of Olgiata on Via Cassia, north of Rome where he spent his time playing golf and chess, as well as tending to his garden.[6][7][16] He was barred from returning to Afghanistan during Soviet-backed Communist rule in the late 1970s. In 1983 during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, Zahir Shah was cautiously involved in plans to head a government in exile. Ultimately these plans failed because he could not reach a consensus with the powerful Islamist factions.[4] It has also been reported Afghanistan, the Soviet Union and India had all tried to persuade Zahir Shah to return as head of a neutral, possibly interim, administration in Kabul.[17]

In 1991, Zahir Shah survived an attempt on his life by a knife-wielding assassin masquerading as a Portuguese journalist.[15]

After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and the defeat of Najibullah's Soviet client government a majority of the various Mujaheddin groups favored a return of King Zahir Shah.[18] However, the ISI of Pakistan feared Zahir Shah's Position on the Durand Line issue. Therefore, the official ISI policy was to push one of the most violent Mujaheddin commanders, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, as the new leader of a radical Islamist government. This position proved to be fatal for Afghanistan and it triggered a brutal civil war. Zahir Shah would not return to the country for another decade.

Zahir Shah is seated at the far right during the oath ceremony of Hamid Karzai on 7 December 2004

In April 2002, while the country was no longer under Taliban rule, Zahir Shah returned to Afghanistan to open the Loya Jirga, which met in June 2002.[19] After the fall of the Taliban, there were open calls for a return to the monarchy.[15] Zahir Shah himself let it be known that he would accept whatever responsibility was placed on him by the Loya Jirga.[19] However he was obliged to publicly step aside at the behest of the United States as many of the delegates to the Loya Jirga were prepared to vote for Zahir Shah and block the US-backed Hamid Karzai.[19] While he was prepared to become head of state he made it known that it would not necessarily be as monarch: "I will accept the responsibility of head of state if that is what the Loya Jirga demands of me, but I have no intention to restore the monarchy. I do not care about the title of king. The people call me Baba and I prefer this title."[15] He was given the title "Father of the Nation" in the current Constitution of Afghanistan[20] symbolizing his role in Afghanistan's history as a symbol of national unity. The title of the 'Father of the Nation' dissolved with his death.[21]

Hamid Karzai, a prominent figure from the Pashtun Popalzai clan, became the president of Afghanistan and Zahir Shah's relatives and supporters were provided with key posts in the transitional government. Zahir Shah moved back into his old palace. In an October 2002 visit to France, he slipped in a bathroom, bruising his ribs, and on 21 June 2003, while in France for a medical check-up, he broke his femur.

On 3 February 2004, Zahir was flown from Kabul to New Delhi, India, for medical treatment after complaining of an intestinal problem. He was hospitalized for two weeks and remained in New Delhi under observation. On 18 May 2004, he was brought to a hospital in the United Arab Emirates because of nose bleeding caused by heat.

Zahir Shah attended the 7 December 2004 swearing-in of Hamid Karzai as President of Afghanistan. In his final years, he was frail and required a microphone pinned to his collar so that his faint voice could be heard.[15] In January 2007, Zahir was reported to be seriously ill and bedridden.

On 23 July 2007, he died in the compound of the presidential palace in Kabul after prolonged illness. His death was announced on national television by President Karzai.[15][22] His funeral was held on 24 July. It began on the premises of the presidential palace, where political figures and dignitaries paid their respects; his coffin was then taken to a mosque before being moved to the royal mausoleum on Maranjan Hill.[23]

^"The late King was always fondly referred to by all Afghans, cutting across ethnic boundaries, as "Baba-e-Millat" or 'Father of the Nation', a position given to him in the country's Constitution promulgated in January 2004, about two years after the collapse of Taliban rule. The title of the 'Father of the Nation' dissolves with his death." "Last King of Afghanistan dies at 92". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.CS1 maint: Unfit url (link)

^Ahmad Majidyar (January 2009). "Afghanistan's Presidential Election"(PDF). American Enterprise Institute. Archived from the original on 2009-09-18. Zaher is the grandson of the late King Muhammad Zaher Shah. He is currently head of Afghanistan’s environment preservation department and a member of the UNF. There has been speculation that the UNF will nominate Zaher as its candidate for the upcoming election. Despite being an heir to the royal family, he lacks a popular base.